“Respect” was one of the words spelled out on the walls of the Kiton showroom in Milan. “We must not forget where we come from,” said chief executive officer Antonio De Matteis. “I think too many are losing their way.”
To avoid that trap, Kiton's core customer remains central to the brand and he is a global traveler-whether for business or pleasure. And that man needs a light, deconstructed suit that can be pulled out of a suitcase without any fuss. “Formal wear becomes smart casual clothing,” said De Matteis. One that comes with price tags that can reach between 30,000 and 50,000 euros in...Read more ...

There was a peacock feel to this high-energy collection of citrus-y brights, crystal sparkles and patterned silks that crossed easily from men to women - and back again. Donatella Versace said she wanted her man to be free to express himself, whether it's with a bright orange marabou boa, “La Cage aux Folles” style, or with an office-ready gray check suit.
“Only a confident man is able to see beyond the status quo and challenge it,” the designer declared in her liner notes. “This newly found attitude gives him the freedom and security to ignore conventional norms around beauty, and even...Read more ...

The Purple Label collection was a look back - in all the right ways. The designer, who staged his 50th anniversary show last September, took piles of prints, accessories and other pieces from the archive and spun them into a collection that was high on glamour, and soft edges.
A horsey theme cantered through the collection, via an early Nineties pattern with stirrups and bits flashing from the underside of coats, hand painted onto jeans and other denim, or laser cut and bonded onto a suede jacket. The stirrup appeared as a shiny feature around the heels of boots, or as buckles on sporty...Read more ...

Things change, and sometimes it's just great. That's the case for Les Hommes, which this season ditched the ultra sleek and sometimes too rigid design of previous seasons to embrace a cooler, more relaxed and playful aesthetic.
Combining a Himalayan hiking inspiration with a Nineties rave feel, Tom Notte and Bart Vandebosch delivered a collection where the brand's signature tailoring - this season's softened and deconstructed - was matched with technical anoraks, puffers and windbreakers worked in bold neon tones of orange, pink, blue and green. In keeping with the Tibetan mountaineering...Read more ...

Philipp Plein marked the 20th anniversary of his brand with a more intimate show, compared with his past theatrical extravaganzas. That said, a performance introducing the show by Brandon Flowers and The Killers had guests, including Plein's longtime fan Paris Hilton, chanting and dancing to their hit “Human” under the gilded and frescoed ceilings of the storied Palazzo Clerici.
More intimate maybe, but Plein's staple sequin embellishments and flashy decorations were all still there. The designer introduced graphics that celebrated his two decades in business as well, splashing them on...Read more ...

“The elephant in the room? He is in the living room,” Francesco Risso said ironically backstage before the show. The designer explained he wanted to portray the actual elephant in the room of contemporary society - an unconventional, maybe a bit strange and eccentric youth who doesn't want to fit in with commonly accepted standards. While the show opened with more traditional men's wear pieces, including boucle suits and coats and moleskin pants, the collection quickly moved toward a more flamboyant, quirky atmosphere with fluid silk shirts and pajama-like pants splashed with vibrant...Read more ...